Folding mechanism



A. LUNDQUIS T ET AL FOLDING MECHANISM Filed April 4, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheetl lNVENTORS'. A

amr a Oct. 16, 1934. A. LUNDQUIST ET AL 3 FOLDING MECHANI SM Filed April4. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 O 1934- A, LUNDQUIST ET AL 1,976,353

FOLDING MECHANI SM Filed April 4, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct.16, 1934 tween FOLDING MECHANISM Arvid Lundquist and James D. Spillane,New York, N. Y., assignors to B. Hoe & 60., Inc, New Ycrk, N. Y., acorporation of New York;

This invention relates to certain improvements in rotary foldingmechanisms used in conjunction with printing machines.

It is desirable in folding products, such as newspapers and the like,that the product shall be acted on by the folding mechanism so that theedges of a folded product are even. In rotary folding mechanisms,however, which embody a rotary folding cylinder the effectivecircumference or folding surface of the cylinder is constant, that is,the cylinder: is made of a predetermined diameter. Where the products'ofvarying thicknesses are folded onto such cylinder, it happens that ifthe cylinder is ofa size to evenly fold a thick product a thin productwill not be evenly folded.

The especial object of the present invention is to produce an improvedconstruction of a folding cylinder whereby the effective circumferenceor product receiving surface of the cylinder may be varied as desired tofold off either a thick product or a relatively thin product 'so thatsuch products may be evenly folded. i I h A further object of theinvention is to produce an improved folding cylinder in which theeffective circumference of the cylinder may be set either for a thick ora thin product, or maybe so arranged as to automatically'adjust itselffor a thick or a thin product. 1

A further object of the invention is to produce a cylinder constructionof simple form in which the parts are of easy access for adjustment orrepair.

With these and'other objects not specifically referred to in view, theinvention consists in certain novel parts, arrangements and combinationswhich will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings andthe novel features pointed outin the claims hereunto annexed. Y

I40. In these drawing Figure 1 is a side View, partly broken away, of

a folding cylinder showing a preferred embodi-r ment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 4510f Figure 1;

' Figure 3 is a side view, on an, enlarged scale,

of one of the resilient bridge, pieces shown in Figure 1; c

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view, the section being taken on line 44of Figure 3:;

Figure 5 is a sectional view showing-a modified construction of theinvention; I l

, Figure 6 is a front View, partly broken away, of part oftheconstruction shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a detail sectional view showing one Irving Trust Company,temporary trustee Application April i, 1931, Serial No. 527,670 11Claims. (c1. 27047) of the modified resilient bridge pieces in oneposition;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 showing the bridge piece inanother position, and v Figure 9 is a detail face view, partly brokenaway, of one of the bridge pieces shown in Fig- D165 '7 and 3. V

Referring now tothese drawings, the invention has been shown as embodiedin a rotary folding cylinder 1 supported on a shaft 2 suitably supportedin any desired framing and driven in any suitable manner, notillustrated. The particular cylinder chosen to illustrate the inventionis a three-part collecting cylinder, that is, a cylinder capacitated tocollect three products, and isshown provided with three sets of pins 3,4 and 5'.

In the particular mechanism shown, the cylinder 2' cooperates with acutting cylinder 6 supported on a shaft 7 and provided with cuttingblades 8, 9. The folding blades are omitted from the showing of thiscylinder in Figures 1 to 4, as being unnecessary for an understanding ofthe invention, but such folding blade' may be mounted or supported inany well known manner. While the cylinder selected to illustrate theinvention is shown as a three-part cylinder, it will be understood thatthe invention is not to be restricted to such construction, but may beused with folding cylinders of widely varying forms. Such foldingcylinder, however, will be provided with devices whereby the effectivecir-- cumference or product receiving surface of the cylindermay beincreased or decreased, depending on whether a thick or a thin productis to 90 be folded off the cylinder, the circumference be-, ingdecreased for a thick product and increased for a thin one.

While the particular construction for effecting this may be variedwithincertain limits, in the best constructions such means will include aplurality of spaced resilient pieces of metal, which may aptly be termedbridge pieces, and these bridge pieces may be operated to increase orde- 150 crease the effective circumference of the cylinder in variousways, either manually or, under some circumstances, automatically, andtwo such forms have been illustrated. Referring first to Figures 1 to 4,there is provided a plurality of these bridge pieces spaced apartwidthwise of the cylinder, these bridge pieces spanning the spaceindicated at 10, through which the folding'blades work, and a suitablenumber of these pieces being provided for effecting the desired results,five such pieces being shown in the construction illustrated.

The particular characteristics of these bridge pieces may vary to someextent, but, as shown, they are strips of fairly heavy spring metal,marked 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. These strips are secured to the cylinderwalls in any suitable manner. At one end, as at the end a, each of thestrips are anchored to one of a plurality of rigid members which extendsinto the space 10, these members being marked and secured to thecylinder wall, by screws 16. At their other end, marked 2), the stripsare secured to the cylinder by screws 16, and are adjusted toward andfrom the axis of the cylinder, so as to increase or decrease theefiective circumference of the cylinder. Each member 50 is provided witha slot 17, which permits the in andout movement of the bridge pieces,and each bridge piece is provided with a pin 18, which has a movement inthe slot 17 to permit the in and out movement of the bridge piece, andthis pin engages in a diagonal slot 19 carried in a bar or block 20,which has a sliding movement in guides 21, 22 formed in the rigid member50, before referred to. By moving this block forward or backward, theaction of the slot riding on the pin will cause the bridge piece to bowoutwardly or inwardly. As, for instance, when the bar is moved from theposition shown in Figure 3 the bridge piece will be bowed outwardly andeffect an increase in the diameter of the collecting cylinder, a reversemovement of the parts causing the bridge piece to assume its normalposition owing to its springy nature.

In the best constructions, means are provided j a spring clip 24, heldin position on the rigid member 50 by means of screws 25, thusyieldingly holding the bar in adjusted position.

In the best constructions, one of these sliding bars is provided foreach bridge piece, and preferably, furthermore, these sliding bars areconnected, as by a screw rod 26, so that they all may be adjustedsimultaneously, In the construction shown in Figures 1 to 4, theadjustment of the bars is effected manually, the bridge pieces being setfor the particular product which is to pass through the machine, andthese bars may be simultaneously adjusted by means of a hand-wheel 27,carried on the end of the cylinder and operable from outside thereof,this hand-wheel being connected to one of the bars,

as the bar for the bridge piece 15, by a screw rod 28. Preferably a setof these bridge pieces and operating bars would be provided for eachcollecting surface of the cylinder. Thus in the particular constructionshown, where the folding cylinder 1 is a three-part collecting cylinder,three sets of these bridge pieces and their adjusting mechanism areillustrated.

Under certain circumstances it may be desirable that a construction beprovided which will automatically adjust itself to accommodate a thickor a relatively thin product, and such construction is shown in Figures5 to 9, inclusive. Referring to these figures, which also illustrate athree-part collecting cylinder in which the folding blades are shownmarked 30, 31, there are provided three sets of bridge pieces 32, 33 and34.

This modified construction spans the gap 35, through which the foldingblades operate, and these bridge pieces are in the form of resilientmetal strips, four such strips being illustrated, marked 36, 37, 38 and39. These bridge pieces, in this modified construction, are supported sothat they will automatically act to accommodate a thick or a relativelythin product, the pieces being mounted so that the pressure of theproduct on the bridge pieces will cause them to move inwardly oroutwardly. Thus when a thin product is passing between the foldingcylinder and the cutting cylinder, the parts will be shown in theirnormal distance from the cylinder, as shown in Figure '7, but when athick product is being handled the resilient bridge pieces will pressdown and thus reduce the effective circumference of the cylinder. Themeans by which the bridge pieces may be so mounted may vary somewhat incharacter. In the particularconstruction shown there is provided a rigidmember 40, which is secured to the cylinder wall by screws 41. Rivetedto this rigid member 40, at one end by a rivet 42, is one end of abridge piece, as the resilient bridge piece 36, and the other end of therigid member 40 is provided with a slot 43, in which runs a headed pin44 secured to the other end of the resilient bridge piece 36. Thus theparts would assume the position shown in Figure 8 when a thick productis being handled. It is understood that a rigid member 40 is providedfor each bridge piece.

It will be seen that with the construction shown and described a verysimple and effective means has been provided for effecting an adjustmentof the effective circumference of the product receiving surface of thecylinder, and that either thin or thick products can be handled andfolded off from the cylinder with an even fold. While the invention hasbeen shown in certain of its preferred forms, it will be understood thatother changes and variations may be made in the arrangement andcharacter of the parts without departing from the invention as definedin the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality offlexible strips carried thereby, said strips being anchored at one endto the cylinder and movable at another end relatively thereto, slidingbars provided with diagonal slots, connections between the bars andstrips, and means for operating the bars to flex the strips.

I 2. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality offlexible strips carried thereby, said strips being anchored at one endto the cylinder and movable at another end relatively thereto, deviceshaving a sliding movement widthwise of the cylinder, said devices beingprovided with diagonal slots, connections between the sliding devicesand the strips, and means for operating the sliding devices to flex thestrips.

3. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality offlexible strips carried thereby, sliding bars provided with diagonalslots and having a sliding movement widthwise of the cylinder andtransversely to the strips, connections between the bars and the strips,means for giving the bars a sliding movement to flex the strips, andmeans for locking the bars in adjusted position.

4. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality offlexible strips carried thereby and rigidly secured at one end thereto,a plurality of means engaging said strips for flexing same, a slotangularly arranged in each of said means, a pin secured to each of thestrips and movable in an adjacent slot of one of said means, and asingle manually operable means for moving all of said plurality of meansin unison.

5. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality offlexible strips carried thereby, a plurality of means engaging saidstrips for flexing same, a slot angularly arranged in each of saidmeans, a pin secured to each of the strips and movable in an adjacentslot of one of said means, and a member threadedly engaged with each ofsaid plurality of means for moving same in unison to flex the strips,said plurality of means moving in a direction substantially at rightangles to the direction of movement of the strips.

6. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality offlexible strips carried thereby, a plurality of means engaging saidstrips for flexing same, a slot angularly arranged in each of saidmeans, a pin secured to each of the strips and movable in an adjacentslot of one of said means, a member threadedly engaged with each of saidplurality of means for moving same in unison to flex the strips, andother means for yieldingly maintaining each of the plurality of means inoperative position.

7. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality offlexible strips arranged in parallel relation upon the periphery of thecylinder, said strips being anchored at one end to the cylinder andhaving a movable connection at another end, and a single manuallyoperable member for flexing all of said strips in unison.

8. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a series offlexible strips arranged in spaced relation upon the periphery of thecylinder from one end to another end thereof, a plurality of meansengaging said series of flexible strips, a single means for moving allof said plurality of means in unison to simultaneously flex the seriesof strips, and yielding means connected to said plurality of means forholding same in operative position.

9. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality offlexible strips secured on the periphery of the cylinder in transverserelation to the axis thereof and in parallel relation to each other, anda single means coacting with other means connected to the said stripsfor flexing all of the strips in unison, said strips being rigidlysecured at one end to the cylinder.

10. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a plurality offlexible strips carried thereby, said strips being fastened at one endto said cylinder, a plurality of members connected with the strips andarranged in spaced relation upon the cylinder, threaded means engagedwith all of said members, guide means for each of the members, andresilient means secured to each of the guide means and engaged with thesaid members for maintaining the same in position.

11. In a folder, the combination of a folding cylinder, a series offlexible strips arranged in spaced relation upon the periphery of thecylinder, a plurality of means engaging said series of flexible strips,other means for moving all of said plurality of means in unison tosimultaneously flex the series of strips, and yielding instrumentalitiesfor maintaining the plurality of means in adjusted positions.

ARV'ID LUNDQUIST. JAMES D. SPILLANE.

